Lord Seventh( QI YE) by Preist

Chapter 4. Hollow Splendor

At this point in his past life, Jing Qi was a mere child who lost his father in just a single night. Part fearful of his unknown future with possibly nowhere to settle down, part broken-hearted for his own fate, the child fell gravely ill due to those accumulated feelings; to the point that he could not take care of his father’s First Seven and missed the Great General’s visit.

Feng Yuanji and his father had been friends for a long time, and as customs were not taken too seriously by the former, he came to pay his respect despite it being the middle of the night. His action showed a rarely seen trace of sincerity in a world full of deception.

Who could have thought in this life he was able to see the older man for one last time before he left the capital.

Upon his questions, Jing Qi smiled suddenly. “I’m the Crown Prince’s study partner1 after all; and now that His Highness is old enough to be involved in court matters, even though I can’t be there directly I have heard the news being thrown around.”

“Hah,” Feng Yuanji barked out a laugh. Jing Qi’s words had managed to touch his worries, and on his face was indignation and anger, unable to be concealed. But he was a strong-willed individual, so he did not want to show those emotions in front of the young child. He turned his head away to look at the dark sky outside the hall. After a long bout of silence, he finally managed to take control of his expressions and voice. He spoke in a low voice, trying his best to stay calm, “Even a child like you know about it, but the one who needs to know the most doesn’t.”

At midnight, seated in front of the King,

But instead of asking about the people, the King asked about ghosts.2

Jing Qi raised his brows, but before he could say anything, Feng Yuanji turned his gaze back inside and spoke in a deep voice. “Those words aren’t supposed to come out of my mouth, so you better pretend that they were never uttered in the first place.”

In the hall, the light from the white candle flickered in the breeze, and there was a slip of paper money half-burned inside the brazier. The young boy’s expression seemed to borrow some warmth from the fire; he sat silently with his deep, dark eyes, looking like he possessed knowledge of everything. Feng Yuanji could not help but soften.

He treated Jing Beiyuan like one of his own children; now that Jing Mingzhi had passed away and he was to leave for South Xinjiang, uncertain if he could ever come back alive, he could only see a magnitude of loneliness in the young boy currently clad in funeral garment and sitting in this mourning hall.

His voice went soft. “His Majesty ordered me to defeat the rebellion in South Xinjiang, this trip… I’m afraid this will be a taxing journey. Please take care of yourself when I’m not here.” He paused, then added with no less worry, “I know that you have always been close with the Crown Prince, and he is a decent individual, but…”

Feng Yuanji might not be a book-smart scholar, but he had been dealing with court matters for decades. Jing Qi understood his hesitation; the current Emperor seemed to still be in his hayday, but that was only a pretty layer of skin to cover the rotten parts inside caused by overindulgence. There was no guarantee about who this country’s next ruler would be unless the three princes waged war against each other; and this was the kind of corruption Great General Feng was afraid the young boy would be dragged into.

Jing Qi laughed softly, throwing more paper money into the brazier. “I am but a leisurely prince with a bad reputation who can only rely on the shadows of my predecessors, and is still a snot-nosed brat no less; being raised in the capital and is occasionally the entertainment of the elder royalty who is fond of children. In those officials’ eyes, I am no better than “Mister Supervising Censor” in His Majesty’s study, who will ever throw a glance my way? You worry too much, Great General.”